{"id":424669,"date":"2010-03-13T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-13T16:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-5288084349316590200"},"modified":"2010-03-13T12:29:52","modified_gmt":"2010-03-13T16:29:52","slug":"alabama-bus-drivers-defend-jobs-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/424669","title":{"rendered":"Alabama Bus Drivers Defend Jobs, Education"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Students and workers unite in the labor struggle to win the ATU strike at the University of Alabama against First Transit.<\/a>
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

Alabama bus drivers defend jobs, education<\/p>\n

Published Mar 13, 2010 10:41 AM<\/p>\n

BULLETIN: As we go to press, the following update was posted to the SDS Tuscaloosa, Ala., Facebook page: \u201cOn March 9 at 2:30 a.m., First Transit and ATU came to an agreement on a contract. This is great news because as most of you know, if there was no contract in place by today, the drivers would be locked out and scabs would be running the buses today. It hasn\u2019t been voted upon yet by the drivers, and we have few details, but we will keep you updated. Go ahead and ride the buses, and when you do, thank your drivers and congratulate them on the change that their courage has created.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Minnie Bruce Pratt
Tuscaloosa, Ala.<\/p>\n

A small, stalwart crowd rallied at the University of Alabama on March 4 in support of campus bus drivers fighting for their first union contract. A multinational group of protesters \u2014 including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and a U of A alumnae \u2014 defended education by supporting them. The rally was organized by Tuscaloosa Students for a Democratic Society and Students in Solidarity with Crimson Ride Shuttle Drivers.<\/p>\n

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1028 is in negotiation with First Transit, which was subcontracted by the university in 2007 to run the \u201cCrimson Ride Shuttle.\u201d Local 1208 has a majority African-American and substantially female membership. First Transit is a subsidiary of FirstGroup\/First Transit International, which originated in the privatization of bus services in the United Kingdom, and now owns a controlling stake in Greyhound Bus Lines.<\/p>\n

David Collins, a former Crimson Ride driver, initiated the union by contacting the ATU in New York. He was later fired as the bus drivers voted to unionize last May. The university pays First Transit $55 an hour to transport students; the drivers are paid $9.50 an hour. At the rally Collins pointed out the extreme discrepancy, arguing that the surplus is simply \u201cpocketed by the company\u201d as profits. He noted the drivers are doing skilled work, requiring them to have a Class B operator\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

In a video, \u201cEmpty Promises: ATU Crimson Ride Drivers Speak Out!\u201d (available at vimeo.com), Local 1028 workers reveal how they were promised raises, bonuses, holiday pay and other benefits by the company, and have seen none of this materialize. Workers have to file for unemployment when the university is out for holiday or summer breaks.<\/p>\n

One worker said: \u201cLast year what I made was almost poverty level. I\u2019ve been a bus driver since 1956, I\u2019ve just turned 74, and it would be hard for me to go out and find another job.\u201d Another worker said: \u201cI can\u2019t hardly eat or feed my family, barely put gas in the car. I\u2019ve got nieces and nephews working in restaurants making what I do, and I\u2019m supposed to be the bread and butter of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another noted the attention the drivers give students: \u201cWe know who is graduating \u2014 and who is failing. We get them to their classes \u2014 and safely home from parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the rally, Caroline James, a junior psychology and communications major, said the Crimson Ride bus drivers were defending education by showing students the living struggle. She noted that in general students lack information on labor issues and labor organizing.<\/p>\n

The local has gotten tremendous support in their struggle. On campus, the solidarity work for the bus drivers is being coordinated by Students in Support of the Crimson Ride Shuttle Drivers and SDS Tuscaloosa. The organizations set up teams to board the buses, leaflet other students, and speak out for the drivers while shuttling across campus. They were met with applause and pledges from students \u201cnot to ride.\u201d In echo of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, Collins said the local\u2019s message to students is: \u201cBoycott the buses \u2014 no one should ride the buses\u201d until First Transit meets the ATU Local 1208 demands.<\/p>\n

When First Transit was intransigent about negotiating, and university administrators said this was none of their business, the organizers mounted a ferocious call-in campaign to University of Alabama President Robert DeWitt. Hundreds of calls poured in and the administration finally made a statement that First Transit received adequate subsidies from the university to pay the drivers a fair wage, and if First Transit did not do so, the university would seek other transportation options.<\/p>\n

Linking the rally to the March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education, SDS organizer Chapin Rose Gray stated: \u201cStudents and workers are all facing the effects of the economic crisis \u2014 students are facing tuition hikes and workers at schools are being hit with layoffs and pay cuts. Today, workers and students stood together to defend education against this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray also noted the clear connection between the billions spent by the U.S. to wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the cuts, tuition increases and wage squeezes in education. SDS Tuscaloosa plans a related protest on March 20, the anniversary of the most recent U.S. invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n

Labor support is also strong and includes members of the ATU local in Jackson, Miss.; the West Alabama Labor Council; and International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 2003 in Daleville, Ala.<\/p>\n

Alabama leads the Southeast U.S. in workers represented by unions, at 212,000 \u2014 12.3 percent of the workforce and rising. It is the only Southern state with double-digit percentage union membership.<\/p>\n

Professor Bob Robicheaux, chair of University of Alabama-Birmingham\u2019s Department of Marketing, Industrial Distribution and Economics, echoed big business when he claimed that if Alabama loses its status as a \u201cright to work\u201d state, and instead has \u201cstrong organized labor,\u201d the state will lose its \u201cattraction\u201d to U.S. and non-U.S. business. (Birmingham News, March 2)<\/p>\n

But the Crimson Shuttle bus drivers, and Alabama union workers, are putting big business on notice that the real rights in question are the right to a living wage and the right to a job.<\/p>\n

Articles copyright 1995-2010 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.<\/p>\n

Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
<\/p>\n

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Students and workers unite in the labor struggle to win the ATU strike at the University of Alabama against First Transit.Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos Alabama bus drivers defend jobs, education Published Mar 13, 2010 10:41 AM BULLETIN: As we go to press, the following update was posted to the SDS Tuscaloosa, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4243,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}